If you’re just joining us, here is what you need to know after a mass internet outage caused by an Amazon Web Services fault.
• Reports of disruption to internet usage across apps and online platforms were flagged overnight. AWS issued a statement at 1.26 am ET confirming “significant error rates for requests.”
• Customers were unable to access their banking apps, gaming sites and social media accounts. Amazon-linked smart devices in the home were also affected.
• Some businesses took to X to reassure customers. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase told users, “All funds are safe,” while artificial intelligence company Perplexity confirmed its service was down, adding, “We’re working on resolving it.” Both noted difficulties stemmed from an AWS fault.
• AWS kept customers informed via its website about the steps it was taking to resolve the issue. At just after 2 am ET, the service said it believed it had identified the root cause of the outage. “We are working on multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery,” it added.
• Flickr, PlayStation and Amazon itself were among the businesses forced to display ‘Error 404’ notices and messages of apology due to their inactivity. Those trying to access major UK banks Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland were told to try again later as it was not possible to process any requests.
• AWS then said, on its online ‘health dashboard’, that it was seeing signs of recovery.
• Tech expert Lance Ulanoff told CNN that AWS “sits in the middle of everything,” adding that all smart devices depend on “constant connectivity” so as soon as the source is removed, they fail.
• A further update on AWS’ health dashboard stated Amazon had “fully mitigated” the outage. It said that some sites were still experiencing delays processing requests, but largely everything was back up and running. The root cause currently remains unknown.
